Day 6 - Westhill to Nairn

We had a small catastrophe last night when at about 8:00 pm, Mandy’s sleeping mat started to lose air. 😱 After a quick inspection we were able to identify a small rip on the topside. We got dressed and headed to the warm washer/dryer room to attempt a repair. Fortunately the sleeping mats come with a small repair kit. After about 40 minutes of surgical procedure we managed to get the leak sealed, and carefully headed back to the tent. The repair held last night and we have our fingers crossed for the rest of the trip…

Shout out to the Ardtower campground in Westhill, where we stayed at last night. The facilities were clean, the pitches were flat and spaced out, and the staff was super helpful and friendly.

Today’s walking went relatively quick, and saw us make it to our campground by 2:00 pm. We got on the road at 8:30 this morning, and had to stop two minutes later to get our waterproofs on when the sky opened up out of nowhere. 🤪 That lasted about ten minutes before it tapered off. There would be two more donning and doffing of the waterproofs throughout the day as the skies would improve enough to lure us into taking them off before quickly changing for the worse. You would think on our fourth crossing that we would have figured it out, but for some reason we aren’t as patient as the Scots when it comes to keeping waterproofs on.



We mostly walked on woodland paths again today, which was very enjoyable for a second day in a row. It is interesting how these paths join neighbouring communities and promote health lifestyles. We saw all sorts of people out at various points - dog walkers, joggers, young couples, old couples, and everything in between.

Interesting Tree Placement

Woodland Adventure Park 😆

Woodland Path Tunnel

Distant View To Beauly Firth

At about our halfway point, shortly after a sudden rain/hail storm caught us with our waterproofs off we walked into a little village called Croy. From a distance we could see there was a dental office - this looked promising…. As we approached we could see there was some sort of business adjacent to the dental office…. Could it be a coffee shop??? Yes, it was a coffee shop shop, and it was Open!!! Neither of us had to convince the other that it would be the right thing to stop and get a hot drink and a snack, so in we went. It felt soooo nice to to take our wet gear off, warm up, and have a little home cooked food. I had a ham and cheese with caramelized onion relish ciabatta sandwich with tea, and Mandy had a bacon roll with a cappuccino. So yummy!!

Surprise Coffee Shop Stop

After we were done, we reluctantly gathered our stuff and hit the road again. I’m not to sure what happened while we were sitting at the restaurant, but as soon as I got up I felt a strange pain in my left knee. It seemed to work itself out as I walked, but every time we stopped for a moment after that it flared up a little. I will try tending to it tonight, and am hopeful things will feel better tomorrow.

With about 5 km to go we turned a corner and ran into a gentleman sitting on a boulder, looking suspiciously like a TGO crosser. Within two minutes Amanda had all the details. Frédéric from France is on his tenth crossing, and is pretty much doing the same route as us. He was done resting and walked with us for the rest of the way to our campground. We had a great time getting to know him, and even found out he managed part of the Springbank Dam project which was built about ten minutes away from where we live in Bragg Creek. What a coincidence!!

The campground we are at has a very cozy building called The Bothy, where tenters can cook meals and hang out at tables and chairs. It is very luxurious, and we have enjoyed sitting, eating, and chatting for the last few hours. The weather outside has been very wind outside (up to 45 km/h gusts) so it has been a real treat to be sheltered.

Frédéric Et Amanda Chez Le Bothy

We are tucked in now getting ready for what sounds like a windy evening.  We can hear a herd of sheep In the field beside us, as the campground is part of a working farm.  There are a few goats, a couple of lamas, and two black highland cows, which are supposedly not very common.  Wish us luck with the weather tonight.

As always, thanks again for reading, everybody!!

Day 6 Route - 19.4 km, 127 m ascent